3 Ways to Up Your Game in 2018

&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;Getting out of your comfort zone can make you a better entrepreneur&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;

Executive coach&comma; motivational speaker&comma; and IBM City Program Leader Roger Osoriohad three challenges for attendees at the 2017 Propelify Innovation Festival&period; Now&comma; he wants you to get out of your comfort zone to become a better entrepreneur in the new year&period;

We’re all used to the classic introductory conversation starter&colon; “So&comma; what do you do&quest;” Next time you’re asked this old networking standby&comma; don't just mumble your name and day job&period; Try introducing yourself and naming your true passion&period; "When I started introducing myself as a coach&comma;" Osorio said&comma; "I was more passionate&comma; more engaging -- and people could feel that and responded to it&period;"

Don’t know how to share your passion in getting-to-know-you chitchat&quest; Try one of these three openers&colon;

“Hi&excl; My name is Noreen and I’m working on &period;&period;&period;”

“Howdy&excl; My name is Dipanjan and I can’t stop thinking about &period;&period;&period;”

“Hello&excl; My name is Gideon&comma; and I am cranking away on my passion project &period;&period;&period;”

Talking about what energizes you will make you naturally more passionate and encourage others to do the same&period; Be real in your conversations&comma; and you'll quickly forge real connections&period;

Creating a real connection with someone begins with initiating a real conversation&period; Communicating about meaningful topics is the way to forge new relationships in business and personal life alike&period; A good conversation creates intimacy&comma; highlights shared experiences or feelings and gets real&period; If you want to make a real connection&comma; try asking someone what inspires or motivates him or her&period; Ask what that individual's vision for the future looks like&period; Cut through the fluff of small talk&comma; and you’ll make find friends&comma; mentors and partners faster than ever before&period;

Challenge No&period; 3&colon; Follow up&period;

So&comma; you’ve taken the scary leap of introducing yourself as the real you and engaged in a real-deal conversation with someone&period; The next step&quest; Contact that person &lpar;you did get a card&comma; right&quest;&rpar; within the next two to three weeks&period; Initiate a follow-up phone conversation or meet up for coffee&period; Maintain the connection you’ve courageously worked to build&comma; and offer up your value&comma; service or fellow connections&period; People like people who help them&period; Offering to be of service&comma; however you can&comma; will build a stronger connection between you and your new contact&period; An introduction is the first step&comma; sure&comma; but carrying the relationship forward into the future makes that networking really count&period;